Kaviska: Difference between revisions

Kaviska occupies a roughly wedge-shaped territory in the Kiravian Northeast. It borders the states of [[Livella]] and [[Eredlina]] to the east, the Íravokan Sea (a margin of the [[Kilikas Sea]]) to the north, the Aquaric Ocean to the southeast (sharing maritime boundaries with [[Niyaska]] and [[Etivéra]]) , and [[Arkvera]] to the west. The Kiygrava River, for which the state is named, is fed by mountain springs just north of the state's geographic centre, and flows toward the southeast through the Kyigrava River Valley, ultimately bisecting the Iyaspala Peninsula before emptying into the Aquaric Ocean at Valëka.

The state is quasi-officially divided into five geographic and economic regions: the Estuary-Insular region or Lower Kiygrava (''Yanxékiygrava'') (comprising the Valēka metropolitan area), Upper Kiygrava (''Ixtékiygrava'') (the northern Iyaspala peninsula and the heavily-populated Kiygrava River Valley), Northern Kaviska (''TuśkaKaviska'') (encompassing the area between the source of the Kyigrava River and the Íravokan coast), and (''NáriKaviska'') Aterandic Kaviska (the mountainous regions on either side of the River Valley). Lower Kiygrava is heavily urbanised and highly developed, owing to the concentric rings of sattelite cities and suburbs radiating outward from Valēka, though areas of the northern shore of the Iyaspala peninsula and the outer islands are more exurban. Though less extensively developed than Lower Kiygrava, Upper Kiygrava is characterised by exurban and rural areas of smallholds, poultry farms, and dairies, punctuated by medium-sized industrial cities such as Traur, Xéuleva, and Evira. Moving northward along the Kyigrava River, the cities give way to large towns and finally to smaller towns of 1-5,000 people, with the state capital of Alëdmar (population 212,000) being by far the largest city in the region.

[[File:Whiteface Mountain from Lake Placid Airport.JPG|thumb|Mt. Karáuna, Upper Kiygrava]]

While Lower Kiygrava and the southern portions of Upper Kiygrava are ethnically diverse, Northern Kiygrava and the northern reaches of Upper Kiygrava have remained predominantly Sedhem since colonisation. Though there is some industry in Northern Kaviska, concentrated along the Íravokan coast, the hilly uplands are more agrarian and markedly less populated than either the estuary or river valley. Still, the region is more densely populated than the Aterandic mountain areas, which are home to small, scattered hamlets and isolated dwellings inhabited by Sedhem and Kiravite Uroms.

As with the other Mid-Oceanic states, an important component of the Kaviskan middle class is the ''sirēvturya'' class of investor-farmers. The ''sirēturya'' are small- and meadium-scale landowning farmers who continue to live on and cultivate their ancestral holdings but now derive most of their income from investments. The investor-farmer class first emerged during the later viceregal period (20670-20710) with the growth of the Kilikas Sea trading network. Valēka-based merchants looked to the farmers of Lower Kiygrava and Raxinidan Island as investors in their mercantile enterprises. The ''sirēturya'' experienced a resurgence after Kirosocialism with the implementation of ordoliberal "Clarendonomics" policies that encouraged savings and small-and-medium enterprises. As multigenerational landowners, the ''sirēturya'' had weathered the Kirosocialist economic collapse better than the urban population, and were better disposed than most other Kiravian households to invest in capital markets.

The official and primary language of Kaviska is [[Kiravic Coscivian]]. There are several traditional areal variants and dialects of Kiravic native to Kiygrava, including Róvidrean Kiravic (spoken in Róvidrea), Estuary Kiravic (spoken on the lower Iaspara Peninsula and the South Bank), [Eviran Kiravic], and Svéaran Kiravic (spoken on the Svéa Peninsula and influenced heavily by Taństan Coscivian). In addition to these areal dialects, newer local dialects have developed in the state's larger cities since industrialisation, often quite distinct from the dialect of the surrounding countryside. Due to the eclectic mix of ethno-linguistic groups in the largest cities and strong neighbourhood effects, the population of Valēka and [other city] exhibit a diverse array of speech patterns, including many accents and sociolects identifiable with a certain part of the city or a particular social group.